Jett's cancer: desmoplastic medulloblastoma

Thursday

Mar 18, 2010 at 6:55 PMMar 18, 2010 at 7:13 PM

By Harriet DanielsStaff writer

The sight of Dr. Amy Smith is a welcomed one now for 3-year-old Jett Green of Ocala.When the two first met a year and a half ago at Shands Children's Hospital in Gainesville, she began treating him for brain cancer.The toddler had desmoplastic medulloblastoma, one of the most common forms of cancer in children. He was diagnosed at 19 months of age and underwent surgery to remove a tumor and then endured months of intensive chemotherapy treatment. He also had a stem-cell transplant a year ago.Jett's recent tests, taken the day after he celebrated his third birthday on March 8, show the cancer has not returned. The news was cause for celebration -- and not just for Jett's family but also other families facing similar battles.Jett and his parents, Trip and Suzanne Green of Ocala, surprised Smith during a recent appointment with a donation of $11,000 to help pay for research of pediatric brain tumors.Trip Green explained that the money came from a fundraising effort the family started several months ago to ensure Smith could continue her research and that other children with brain tumors would have access to care at Shands Children's Hospital like their son did. The Greens sold green plastic bracelets reading: For the Children.That effort has expanded, with the family creating the Florida Children's Brain Tumor Foundation, or Jett's Foundation."Every year we intend to give the money to the UF Pediatric Brain Unit and hope to make people aware of how underfunded this research is," said Trip Green. "We have a world-class facility right here, and it needs funding."Smith said she is impressed and overwhelmed by the Greens' long-term commitment."I feel very blessed that they are committed," she said. "For a family to go through this and come out of it, and not want to run and hide under a rock but actually want to help, is just amazing."Smith, director of neuro-oncology at the University of Florida/Shands Children's Hospital, treated Jett following his surgery by Dr. David Pincus, chief of pediatric neuro-surgery at Shands. She explained that because of Jett's young age, radiation was not an option for treatment because it could have interfered with his development.The tumor was 4.6 centimeters wide or about the size of a walnut. It likely had been growing since Jett was in the womb. It's unknown if Jett had any other symptoms, since he was too young to communicate verbally."We had to really rely on our faith. We adopted Jett, and we went through an ordeal with fertility treatments before we adopted, so when this came up, I found myself asking why," Trip Green said. "I believe God wanted us to be Jett's parents, and he put Dr. Smith in our lives. They saved his life."The toddler still must undergo testing every few months for the next 10 years."He used to scream bloody murder when I came into the room -- I could not get anywhere near him," Smith said. "Now he smiles and hugs me. He's such a sweet little guy."Suzanne Green said that after receiving Jett's diagnosis, they immediately began calling around the country to see who could treat their son. Most people they sought advice from told them Smith was the best."I did not know children could get brain tumors, and I never imagined we could stay home for his treatment," she said.The Greens are both lawyers and consider themselves usually in control, but this was a situation where they say they felt helpless. Suzanne remembers it was the night before the UF/LSU game, and Jett was walking a bit wobbly and they thought it was an ear infection.To be on the safe side, their pediatrician sent them to the emergency room at Shands."At midnight, they told us he had a brain tumor," Suzanne Green said. "And we were lucky because it was caught before it spread or there was swelling on his brain."Trip Green said it felt like they had been hit with a bat, as if their world had come to an end.Suzanne stopped working for six months and rented an apartment in Gainesville to be near the hospital when Jett had extended stays. Trip Green would come up on the weekends.The foundation, the Greens say, is their small way of giving back and paying it forward for others. And as Jett gets older, they will let him decide what type of activity to host to raise money."He might want to do a bike-a-thon, a fishing derby or golf tournament -- the sky is the limit," Trip Green said.The Greens say the experience gives them a greater appreciation for each day because they never know what news they'll get and want to celebrate each day and milestone.Contact Harriet Daniels at harriet.daniels@gvillesun.com or 338-3166.